JYOTI SARUP MITTAL Vs. EXECUTIVE ENGINEER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed the present petition under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter the 'A&C Act'), inter alia, praying that an arbitrator be appointed to adjudicate the disputes that have arisen between the parties in connection with the agreement dated 21.11.2006 (hereinafter 'the Agreement') entered into by the petitioner with the respondent (hereinafter 'SDMC') for executing the works relating to "Improvement to Drainage System and Roads Ready Mix Concrete in Ward No. C-47 & 48 in the West Zone" falling under the Executive Engineer-XXIII, MC Primary School, 10 Block, Subhash Nagar, New Delhi-110027.

(2.) In terms of the Agreement, SDMC awarded the contract for execution of the works in question to the petitioner at a contract price of Rs. 25,30,28,517/- In terms of the tender conditions, SDMC called upon the petitioner to deposit the performance security in the form of a Bank Guarantee for an amount of Rs. 1,02,00,000/-, which is equivalent to 5% of the contract price. The Agreement stipulated 06.12.2006 as the commencement date and 05.12.2008 as the date of completion of the works.

(3.) The petitioner completed the works on 31.05.2010, however, it claims that the execution of the improvement work was hampered due to various reasons attributable to the respondent including dismal condition of the approach roads; frequent shutdown of the RMC Plant; heavy rains; over hanging high tension line rendering it unsafe to deploy JCP Machine/RMC Batch Mix Truck; and daily intervention of rural village representatives. Notwithstanding the said hindrances, the petitioner completed the works on 31.05.2010 and SDMC issued the completion certificate on 27.01.2012.